Chicken Broccoli Shells and Cheese

This was definitely as good as it looked. The teenager coined the term "gravy cheese"--I mean, who doesn't love cheesy gravy?! We had some friends over for dinner, so I ended up doubling the recipe. I also accidentally pulled out chicken thighs instead of breasts, and unsure if they would like the combo, I cooked the chicken seperately. Served with salad and corn-on-the-cob, it was a big hit. Definitely an easy one to prepare and worth the effort.

http://diethood.com/chicken-broccoli-shells-cheese/

Hatch Chile Chicken Enhiladas

Let me start off with my side note--I have been cooking enchiladas all wrong for years. In this recipe, I learned to dip the tortillas in chicken broth before stuffing and wrapping them. [We prefer flour tortillas but they worked just the same.] No more dried out shells! It also makes them much more pliable when rolling.

Once again, the hubby has stayed true to form and brought me home another item I'm not used to working with--Hatch Chilies (which are seasonal). I had heard how delicious they are, but had never attempted to prepare them. Thanks to Ree Drummond (the Pioneer Woman) and Google, I have mastered roasting, peeling and chopping up my own green chile sauce. To make it even better, I put a whole chicken in the crockpot and used the broth for the recipe.

This was a fun one, and truly easy to make. Looking forward to more "surprises" if they turn out this good. I have a feeling the hubby is going to buy more REAL soon...then I'll try my hand at canning green chile sauce :)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/how-toroast-green-chilies/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/green-chile-chicken-enchiladas

Baked Swiss Steak

The hubby went to the store this weekend and it looks like another week of "manager's special surprise" (meats).  Tonight it is going to be tenderized steaks (pre-seasoned) and the lucky winner is---Taste of Home for their baked Swiss Steak recipe. I think the teenager is just happy it's a zucchini free night, although he managed to wolf down the zucchini disguised as brownies. :)  This one would be an easy slow cooker meal; if I ever get this surprise meat again, I will probably try other variations. *The onions and tomatoes came straight from our garden--yum!
[The hubby doesn't like green peppers which is traditionally what I associate with swiss steak, so I have to think outside of the box.]

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/baked-swiss-steak

Summer Squash Sloppy Joes

This was pretty good and I realized that when we added the buns, cheese, a glass of milk we had almost a complete meal...technically hitting all 4 food groups if you include tomato as a fruit. :) I ended up adding a little bit of vinegar and brown sugar for some extra kick. The great news is that kids wouldn't likely realize that vegetables are in it if you shred the vegetables like I did. It became a great series of leftovers for the week for the teenager too. :)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/summer-squash-sloppy-joes-239165

Chicken Zucchini Fritters

"Oh wow--delicious!" That's what I kept hearing in between bites from my boys. Thanks to a Facebook share by my mother-in-law (who lives in North Carolina), we had a great dinner. I shredded a couple of leftover chicken breasts and added to the mix. It only took one zucchini (shredded with my food processor accessories)--of course the zucchini (from our garden) was 14 inches long. :)  After it was done, the boys decided to douse the fritters with Frank's Hot sauce and ranch. I prefer mine plain. Yummy! Thanks Judy!

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/13938/connies-zucchini-crab-cakes/?mxt=t06rda

Pillsbury's Taco Crescent Ring

So the poor teenager has been subjected to quite a bit of kale and "rabbit food", so I promised him a break. A lot of my recipes are from facebook scrolling and Pillsbury has some really fun ones for kids/parties, not to mention, this one was really pretty when it was done. Now, the boy liked it, but the hubby thought it would have been perfect as an Italian type of Stromboli. Agreed and likely will be my next recipe down the road. Tonight I'm going to see if the teenager will like Kale Sausage Lasagna....:)

Also--I substituted sour cream with plain fat free yogurt and homemade salsa (I made earlier in the day). 

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/taco-crescent-ring/a52fade5-13ce-483a-b1d6-55c22aeb5c5a